Picking up and moving apartments during a global pandemic is definitely less than practical, but some Toronto residents simply have no choice but to do so because of plans they made prior to the crisis. 

Edwin Carrao is one such man. He has a high risk of contracting the virus due to hypertension and prediabeties, and he and his wife have two young children to keep safe.

But despite his best efforts to change their plans and avoid having unnecessary contact with others during this time, his family will have to pick up and move in a few weeks time. 

This is what you should do if you're moving in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic https://t.co/K16Y9R3IcI #Toronto #Coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/IqQ6k00NzN

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 26, 2020

Carrao and his wife originally started making moving plans back in January when they purchased a downtown condo. They informed their current rental company of their intentions to move in early March, and all seemed to be in order. 

But initial inspections of their new property revealed that they would need to delay moving in due a water pressure issue, and concerns over COVID-19 were already mounting in the city at that time. So, they asked for an extension in their current home. 

And when the City of Toronto suspended several services in light of COVID-19, including property inspections, they were informed that their move-in date would have to be postponed indefinitely. 

Carrao's building granted him a one-week extension in his current home, despite several requests for more time, due to the next renter that's set to move in. 

We r one of those who MUST move. In Jan when covid was just a blob, we gave our 60-day notice. Bef end of Feb when covid accelerated we reached out to our landlord to withdraw the notice. He said NO. We tried again in March. He said NO again bec he already rented it out. 1/2

— Edwin Carrao (@edwinTOR416) March 26, 2020

"We were expecting them to be a little more compassionate about it and offer something. But they didn’t offer us anything," he said. "They just said 'No. We have a new renter and you have to move out.'"

This means he and his family will be moving into a temporary Airbnb apartment for at least two months until they can move into their new condo.

In other words, Carrao will have to move his family twice in the upcoming months. 

"We don’t want to move to so many different places while all of this is happening. We don’t want to expose ourselves," Carrao told me in expressing his anxiety about the move. 

He also said he'd been hoping for a lockdown in the city so that he and his family would have no choice but to stay put. But that hope was destroyed when the Ontario government included moving services on their official list of essential businesses. 

I’m in the same boat and have to move by the end of this month. Hopefully everything works well for everyone who’s planning to move.

— timelapse (@timelapse001) March 26, 2020

Carrao is a gig economy worker and had to stop working when Ontario schools closed in order to take care of his kids (his wife works full-time). 

He said he's put a plan in place in order to move in the safest way possible, including packing all their own boxes, dismantling their own furniture, asking movers to wear protective gear and wash their hands excessively as well as moving his kids out of the apartment before movers arrive.

But Carrao says he still fears for himself and his family. 

"I’m still very anxious about moving. We have all these plans but you never know, things do happen," he said. 

"You might have a perfect plan but with all the uncertainty around us….but we’re hoping for the best. But at the back of my mind I’m worried for my kids, I’m worried for myself, I’m worried for my wife and I’m worried about everyone that we'll come in contact with."